View full sizeKevin Wilken, the Animal Control Director, speaks at the Courts and Public Safety Committee meeting at the Saginaw Country Courthouse on Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2013. Wilken proposed changing the adoption rates of pets, raising them to cover the costs of spaying and neutering. Clay Lomneth | MLive.com

SAGINAW, MI — Those seeking to adopt a dog or cat from Saginaw County Animal Control will have to pay a higher fee than before, but Saginaw County Controller Marc A. McGill says overall the new pet owners are coming out ahead.

Whereas the fee to adopt a dog or cat used to be $10, the new adoption fees are $125 for dogs and $90 for cats. The $15 fee to adopt all other animals has not changed.

Commissioner Cheryl Hadsall said, according to Wilken, adoption fees have not increased in several years, though additional expenditures have been incurred because of the increased number of animals and the cost of care.

McGill said the new fees will include the spay or neuter procedure and vaccinations, making it a simpler process for those adopting pets.

“So when you leave animal control you’re done,” McGill said. “Your dog is healthy, current on shots, spayed or neutered.”

Previously, when someone adopted a dog or cat from Saginaw County Animal Control they would pay the $10 fee and a $30 deposit, which they would get back after having the animal spayed or neutered by a veterinarian, requiring them to make a second trip, McGill said.

“So the price, on average, is going to be lower.”

That former process also left room for a new pet owner to potentially forgo the costly spay or neuter procedure and leave their deposit, so this new system eliminates that problem, McGill explained.